


Are We There Yet?

by eggxie



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-02-23 19:22:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13196868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eggxie/pseuds/eggxie
Summary: Chanyeol has a long way to go in this taxi. Maybe he can bond with the driver along the way.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi uhh this is my first chanbaek fic, please receive it well and anticipate the next chapter! thank you so much for reading, if you choose to read past the notes i guess. please enjoy.

_"Hi I’d like to book a taxi for tomorrow morning? … yes … the earliest time possible please … yup that’s fine, I’ll just give you my address…"_

____

__

-

Disorientated and still tired from waking up so sinfully early, Chanyeol paced through his apartment with an urgency. He had about twenty minutes to make sure he was fully prepared for his journey. It was tedious, taking a taxi cross-country, but it was the cheapest way he could get to his grandmother’s house at such short notice, so it had to be done. All of his friends being ‘busy’, in other words they couldn’t be bothered to drive him halfway across the country, this taxi was his last hope. 

Five minutes left until his taxi arrived to pick him up, if it was to be on time, he double checked his bag, made sure he called his relatives, telling them that he’s on his way, and called the manager at the shop he worked in, telling him he wouldn’t be in for the next few days. He spent the rest of his wait playing the game he downloaded to keep him occupied throughout the journey. 

He saw a car pull up outside of his apartment. Watching it through his window, he decided that it was probably the taxi and, not wanting to make the driver wait any longer than they had to, he shoved his phone, keys and headphones into his jacket pocket, scooped his bag into his arms and rushed out the door, nearly forgetting to lock it behind him. Chanyeol ran down the stairs, the cold air of the morning hitting him unexpectedly, causing him to grit his teeth and pull the sleeves of his jacket down just a bit further. Certain that the car was his taxi due to the now clear taxi company markings on the doors, he opened the back door, threw his bag inside and also threw himself onto the leather seats, grateful that the car was well heated inside. After catching his breath, Chanyeol only then realised the driver was staring quizzically at him through the rear view mirror.

“Um, sir-”

“I’m sorry! Good morning, I’m Chanyeol, I called yesterday and booked a taxi for 7:30am? I didn’t want to keep you waiting so I came as quickly as possible!” Chanyeol cut the driver off before he could say anything, he didn’t mean to be so brash but he felt the need to explain himself for some reason.

“Oh, that’s fine, I was just a bit surprised when you got into the car so hastily like you were being chased… anyway I don’t think the secretary mentioned this on the phone yesterday but we only accept card payments, is that okay?” The driver replies, rushing to get his words out before Chanyeol can interrupt again.

Chanyeol confirms he is okay with card payment and secures his seatbelt, then gets his headphones out ready to listen to music for the majority of the ride as the driver probably wasn’t in the mood to talk. Just as he is picking a song to listen to, the driver speaks again,  
“Do you want me to put the radio on? Or you can plug an aux cord into the stereo if there’s anything you want to listen to.”

The driver is aware of how dreadfully long the journey will take, thinks Chanyeol, he’ll probably have music on regardless of his reply so why not take the latter offer anyway?

Chanyeol asks the driver if he can have the aux cord and he complies. He plays a pop song to begin with, not wanting to annoy the driver or put him off with his other music so goes for a song Chanyeol knows the driver will also know. 

With that, the driver announces he’ll begin the journey so Chanyeol makes himself comfortable in the back seats. The car pulls out of the car park and as Chanyeol’s apartment building gets further into the distance, he wonders if the driver _is_ in the mood to talk so early in the morning. 

He attempts conversation anyway. 

“So is this your first journey of the day?” Chanyeol asks, keeping the conversation lighthearted. 

“It’s my only journey of today, and some of tomorrow if there’s traffic. We’ll probably have to stop at a hotel during the night and carry on driving early tomorrow morning if that’s the case. The cost of which will be included in your bill.” the driver replies formally and professionally; not sounding disengaged but not sounding particularly invested in this conversation either. 

Chanyeol suddenly feels guilty for making such a large request, driving half way across the country and he hopes and prays there’s no traffic so he doesn’t have to pay extra. He’s not sure he can even afford to do that. He tries another question,

“What’s your name? It’ll be a bit awkward if we have to spend two days together and I don’t know your name for the entirety of it.” Chanyeol bites his tongue as he wonders if he’s overstepped his boundaries, he doesn’t even know if you’re allowed to ask taxi drivers for their names.

“Baekhyun.” the driver replies succinctly, eyes trained on the road.

Chanyeol simply nods even though he’s unsure if the driver even saw his nod through the mirror. He commits the name to memory as the car merges onto a main road, signifying they were out of Chanyeol’s neighbourhood and that their journey really had begun. The music Chanyeol had chosen still plays softly in the background, he’s too awkward to ask the driver to turn it up, he doesn’t want to distract him from driving safely. 

‘Baekhyun…’ Chanyeol replays this in his mind for a while.


	2. Chapter 2

The car was silent for about an hour, even then they weren’t even an eighth away closer to their destination. The only sound in the vehicle came from Chanyeol’s music, which was now playing some soft rock songs as the playlist had gone through all the pop songs, and the quiet whirring of the car itself. The atmosphere was calm. Baekhyun; as Chanyeol now knew he was called, was keeping focused on the road and Chanyeol stared out the window, watching the scenery of farm fields rush by him in a blur. He’d really committed to making himself comfortable in the backseat; his shoes were off and his long legs were outstretched in front of him. He’d also taken his jacket off too as the heat inside the car was enough to warm him. 

Baekhyun’s eyes averted to look at Chanyeol through the mirror, then quickly back to the road. This action was so quick it could easily be missed but Chanyeol noticed. He’d noticed every time Baekhyun had done this in the past hour. He’s just checking if his customer is okay, Chanyeol thought.

Just as Chanyeol thought he might drift off to sleep for a while, Baekhyun’s voice filled the car once more, 

“Do you have a job, Chanyeol?” 

“Yeah, uh, I work in a convenience store. It’s not as boring as it sounds! We get some interesting customers and it’s fun to talk to them sometimes if they’re in the mood to chat, they can complain a lot though but it’s okay! I’m getting paid after all.” Chanyeol overshared, it was a habit of his but Baekhyun didn’t seem to have a negative reaction to this.

“Oh, that’s nice.” Baekhyun replied, short and sweet once again. He seemed like he didn’t know how to carry on the conversation so Chanyeol did so for him, 

“So do you live in the city, Baekhyun? Close to the taxi company, I mean.” Chanyeol thought he’d add the second sentence so Baekhyun didn’t misunderstand and think he was strange for asking where he lives.

“Yeah, I live pretty close to the centre of the city so it’s easy to get to work, not that I stay there for long due to the taxi company always being busy.”

Chanyeol was happy to be speaking with Baekhyun, who had seemed quite cold beforehand, Chanyeol felt like he was getting to know him better and that urged him to ask more questions, 

“How long have you been a taxi driver for?” Chanyeol probed a little further, he didn’t know if he was crossing boundaries but he asked anyway, it’s not like his intentions were bad.

“Not very long, I started this job a few months ago when I moved to the city from a smaller town. It can be hard work sometimes but I don’t mind. As you said, I’m getting paid after all.”

That reply caused a smile to appear on Chanyeol’s face, Baekhyun had shared his opinion on something finally and Chanyeol took this as a sign they were becoming friends. He decided to change the subject of their conversation before the current one became stale and made things awkward. 

He opened his mouth to speak again, but Baekhyun beat him to it, 

“So you like this type of music? It’s quite different from the pop music you were playing earlier.” Baekhyun noticed the sudden change in genre from pop to the rock music that was now playing. 

“Uh yeah, I like all types of music really but I listen to this stuff quite often so there’s a lot of it on this playlist. I can change the song if you don’t like it? You are the one driving after all.” Chanyeol suddenly felt embarrassed about his music, he felt like Baekhyun didn’t like it and was going to agree and tell him to change it. 

“No it’s okay, I like it, it’s not something I would usually listen to but keep it on anyway, don’t feel pressured to change it.” Baekhyun reassured his passenger by looking at him through the mirror and giving him a soft smile. Chanyeol hadn’t seen him smile before and when he did, he decided that he really likes Baekhyun’s smile. It’s warm. 

Chanyeol doesn’t really know how to reply to Baekhyun’s approval so he just nods again and relaxes back in his seat. Being as social as he is, Chanyeol enjoys talking to Baekhyun, he wants to know more about him but he also doesn’t want to overwhelm him with questions and make him feel uncomfortable. Chanyeol decided to leave him to focus on driving for a while and maybe ask some more a bit later. 

The car suddenly merges off the motorway into a petrol station. Chanyeol is surprised at their sudden stop but then realises the fuel level has been low for a while. Baekhyun must have been waiting to pass a petrol station for some time now. As the car slows to a halt in one of the parking spaces and Baekhyun gets out of the car to fill it with fuel, Chanyeol takes this opportunity to finally look at his surroundings properly without being anxious of Baekhyun judging him for being nosy. There’s a car freshener hanging from the rear view mirror, it’s shaped like a turtle. ‘Cute’ Chanyeol thinks to himself. He looks around more and finds a small packet of tissues with tiny suns on them, a stick of strawberry flavoured lip balm and an empty wrapper which looks like it used to be filled with brightly coloured sweets. Chanyeol began to think differently about Baekhyun after seeing these things; whereas he used to think Baekhyun was quite a serious person, he now thinks he might be more lighthearted and cute than Chanyeol first presumed. Chanyeol looked forward to talking to him more. 

Snapping him out of his thoughts, Baekhyun poked his head through the door to collect his wallet to pay for the fuel and while doing so he asks, 

“Hey Chanyeol do you want anything from the shop?” his eyes are wide as he asks this, as if he was nervous to say it. 

Chanyeol declined his offer, he would feel bad for making Baekhyun spend even more money than he already is. Baekhyun accepts his rejection and closes the car door to go to pay for the fuel in the shop. 

When Baekhyun returns, he falls back into the driver’s seat with a huff. He turns to Chanyeol in the back seat and gives him a packet. 

“Here, I know you said you didn’t want anything but we’ve been on the road for a while now and you haven’t eaten anything, so there you go. I didn’t know what you liked so I just got some crisps. Everyone likes crisps, right?”

Chanyeol accepts the packet and sits back in his seat. A smile grows on his face as Baekhyun starts the engine again and begins to drive out of the petrol station. 

“Thanks Baekhyun”


	3. Chapter 3

Some time had passed since they last spoke. Chanyeol sat comfortably in the back seat eating his crisps that Baekhyun had bought him, which he was really grateful for as he had foolishly forgotten to bring any food for himself. All the while, Baekhyun kept his eyes trained on the road ahead. They stayed like this for a while until, on the horizon, both of them saw a blur of red lights. 

“Oh my god…” Baekhyun muttered to himself as they neared the mass of red and the image became more distinct; cars. A lot of them. Unmoving. 

Chanyeol realises quickly what their situation now is. There’s traffic that doesn’t seem to be moving in the slightest and shows no signs of doing so for a long while. This is exactly the opposite of what he wanted. All Chanyeol wanted to do was pay as little money as possible for this trip, and now it looked like he’d be paying double the price, and he didn’t have that kind of money. Chanyeol recalls Baekhyun’s words from the beginning of their trip; ‘if there’s traffic, he’ll have to stop at a hotel overnight and you’re paying for it’ or something like that. He curses whatever possible cause of the traffic there may be before he hears Baekhyun’s voice again, 

“There’s no exit off this road for at least five miles and at this rate, we won’t even move that far in the next hour. Our best bet is to take the next exit and go from there.”

Chanyeol agrees and thanks the heavens that Baekhyun didn’t mention anything about extra payments. Maybe he’d realised that Chanyeol doesn’t have a lot of money to spend and feels sorry for him. Chanyeol hopes this is the case anyway. 

They stay in the same position for what seems like an eternity, Chanyeol is restless and keeps fidgeting with his seatbelt while Baekhyun just stares ahead at the endless row of stationary cars. He looks so tired.

“Did you eat breakfast, Baekhyun?” Chanyeol noticed he didn’t buy anything for himself back at the petrol station. 

“Kind of, I had some sweets and some water and that was about it. I was kind of in a rush this morning…” This reply makes Chanyeol feel guilty that he’d practically forced Baekhyun out of bed this morning to take him to his destination, even if this was his job it was still a tall order. That also explains the wrapper he saw while Baekhyun was getting fuel. He has to do something. 

“Here have these. I would offer you something that isn’t half eaten and kind of gross but you have to eat something. I bet you haven’t had anything but those sweets for this entire day! You’re the one driving and your job just got a lot longer with this traffic. You should keep your energy up.” After saying this, Chanyeol realises that it probably sounded more aggressive than he intended. He wasn’t trying to force Baekhyun to eat but he wanted to make sure he had at least offered. He hoped Baekhyun didn’t take his sudden outburst the wrong way. He waits anticipatedly for a reply.

To Chanyeol’s shock and dismay, Baekhyun declined his offer. Chanyeol feels a wave of awkwardness overcome him as his face goes warm with embarrassment. 

“Um, no thanks, it’s okay I’ll just find a fast food place as soon as the next exit off this road comes along.” Baekhyun kindly replies, with a slight air of awkwardness himself.

Chanyeol doesn't know what to do with himself after this so he just mumbles something incomprehensible and fumbles with his phone to open the game he started playing earlier to distract himself from what had just happened.

Unknowing if the car was actually filled with sudden awkwardness or if Chanyeol was just imagining it by himself, he just sits there, on his phone, in silence. He decides he won’t attempt to begin another conversation with Baekhyun out of fear he’ll make the atmosphere even weirder or he’ll offend Baekhyun in some way. 

Watching the cars and waiting for them to move, which seems like it’ll never happen, is making Chanyeol tired. The vehicle hasn’t moved for a good forty-five minutes and neither has Baekhyun. The driver stares straight ahead, gaze unwavering from the window. Eventually, Chanyeol gets bored of consistently losing the level on the game he’s playing and shuts it off. He bundles up the courage to talk to Baekhyun again and hopes he’s forgotten the ordeal that happened a mere forty-five minutes ago.

“Any idea of what’s making the traffic move so slowly?” His question isn’t all stupid… Baekhyun is a taxi driver so he might know these roads well? Chanyeol thinks to himself. 

“No, Chanyeol” Apparently it was a stupid question “I’m not psychic or some lord of the roads. I’m just driving a car like every other person on this road.”

Chanyeol is taken aback by Baekhyun’s sudden harsh tone. Understandably, he can see why he’s annoyed; Chanyeol would be too if he was in the driver’s seat, stuck in a traffic jam. He can also see why a less than logical question like he had just asked could make Baekhyun even more annoyed. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you like that. I’m kind of frustrated that none of these cars are moving. There’s probably been an accident further up the road. I just want to get to the exit as quickly as possible.” Baekhyun probably sensed Chanyeol’s surprised nature and found the need to justify his abruptness. Oh well, he’s probably just hungry... Chanyeol thought. 

As if whatever deity that may exist saw Chanyeol suffering, the traffic suddenly lurched forward as everything began to move again. Not at a fast pace but enough to get them moving again. Chanyeol tried his luck again and prayed with every fibre in his being that they would move enough to get to the exit because even after eating those crisps, Chanyeol was still a bit hungry. Well that, and he wanted Baekhyun to eat too. 

The gods worked their magic again and before Chanyeol knew it, they were slowly approaching the exit and he saw the sign to a fast food place in his midst. Baekhyun probably saw this too and the moment he was free from the restraints of the other cars moving slowly around him, he put his foot down on the acceleration and drove up the exit and straight into the car park of the fast food place. 

It wasn’t the most classy of places, but it had food and that’s the only thing the pair were concerned about at this moment in time. The second Baekhyun parked the car, they were both out of the car doors and walking inside the building faster than they’d ever moved before. 

“What do you want?” Baekhyun asked, referring to the menu of food they were both staring at above the counter.

“Oh no no no you are not paying for my food again!” Chanyeol quickly retaliates. He was a whole adult! He didn’t need someone to pay for his food at all times… plus he’d feel guilty for making Baekhyun pay again. 

“I don’t care. I’m paying. What do you want? Choose something quickly.” Baekhyun turned to look at Chanyeol dead in the eyes for the first time. He knew what he was doing as Chanyeol was instantly unable to refuse his offer as he started back at Baekhyun.

Chanyeol rushed his order to Baekhyun and turned away quickly before Baekhyun could look at him with those eyes again. It’s only now Chanyeol noticed how short Baekhyun is in comparison to him. ‘Cute…’ Chanyeol thinks to himself again.

As they take the food they ordered and find somewhere to sit down inside the building, Baekhyun speaks again, 

“I feel like I have to apologise again for being so sarcastic in the car earlier. I don’t know what came over me, I’m not normally like that. It’s so unprofessional to talk to a customer in that way.” Baekhyun slightly bowed his head in apology and seemingly for the hundredth time that day, Chanyeol felt guilty for making Baekhyun feel bad about his actions. 

“It’s okay! I asked a stupid question. I understand. Anyway, thank you for paying for my food… you really didn’t need to do that, you know”

“I wanted to, Chanyeol. You should eat before I make you take it back and pay for it yourself.” Baekhyun’s tone was playful and that caused Chanyeol to grin and finally begin eating.

They eat in silence for a while. Not an awkward silence. It’s comfortable even though they haven’t known each other for very long at all, Chanyeol felt comfortable around Baekhyun although he was probably just being kind to him as that was part of his job.

“How old are you, Chanyeol?” Baekhyun asks out of nowhere. It caught Chanyeol off guard and he was in the middle of chewing a piece of his food. He swallowed it quickly and answered, 

“Twenty-five… I know you’re probably thinking wow he’s twenty-five and he can’t even drive himself places but I’ve never had to! Everything I need is in walking distance!” Baekhyun didn’t need that information, Chanyeol thought to himself instantly after finishing his sentence. His habit of oversharing strikes again. 

Baekhyun, not looking like he minded the extra information, replied “Oh, that’s nice, I’m twenty-five too.”

Chanyeol felt relieved at Baekhyun’s lack of judgement and they sat in silence for a little longer until, 

“Do you have a girlfriend, Chanyeol?” Chanyeol chokes on his drink at this. Not only was it not expected, but also slightly embarrassing as Chanyeol gives an honest answer, 

“I haven’t had a girlfriend since high school…” Chanyeol says with an aura of bashfulness. 

Baekhyun simply nods and says after some time, 

“Sorry if I overstepped my boundaries as someone you’re just paying to drive you somewhere, it’ll make the journey less tedious if we know each other a little better, right?” Baekhyun casts his eyes down while saying this, staring at the food in front of him and anticipating Chanyeol’s reply. 

“Yeah, I guess.” Chanyeol agrees, partially to Baekhyun but mostly to himself as they both finish their food and head back to the car.


	4. Chapter 4

Feeling fuller, the pair were back on the road. The traffic seemed to have cleared up but the damage was done in Chanyeol’s eyes; their journey was delayed which may mean more money will be involved in his payment. Despairingly, Chanyeol thinks about all the extra shifts he’ll have to work at the convenience store to pay this off. 

Reminiscing on the not-so-long-ago emergence of Baekhyun’s softer, kinder side, Chanyeol decided he genuinely wanted to know his driver more, hoping for a friendship perhaps.

“So Baekhyun, do you live alone?” is what Chanyeol decides to break the silence with. _Great _, he thought,_ now he’ll just think I’m a creep._

“Yeah, I moved to the city alone to find work after realising I didn’t know what to do with my university degree, I have an older brother back where I used to live though.” Baekhyun’s reply shocked his passenger, not used to Baekhyun saying more than he needed to. 

“Oh... wow! I’m in a similar situation, I have a degree in music production yet I’m working at a convenience store...” Chanyeol was determined to keep this conversation going for once, optimistic for Baekhyun’s reply. 

“Really? Music production? That’s weird, my degree is also music related.”

Taken aback by this revelation, Chanyeol was amazed and slightly elated to know that the two were similar that he once thought. The prospect of making friends with his driver was seeming more real by the second.

“Wow, I never thought we had much in common! So do you play an instrument? I can play a few, not to brag or anything.” Chanyeol was sincere with the last part, he didn’t want to come across as arrogant to Baekhyun. 

“Actually I sing, I’ve wanted to become a singer since 4th grade but here I am driving a taxi instead. I’m still hopeful, though.”

“I’d love to hear you sing one day!” despite detecting the air of sadness in Baekhyun’s voice, Chanyeol decided to keep his reply optimistic while setting up potential plans for the two in the future. He was suddenly determined to make this friendship happen. 

Baekhyun merely hummed in agreement in response and that marked the end of their quasi-bonding session. Chanyeol was satisfied with this and resigned to admiring the peaceful scenery from his window.


End file.
